Now, realizing that the movie-going public may be math-averse, Tom Cruise has just announced that his fourth Mission: Impossible adventure will eschew the numeric subtitle. So what's the new name and how does it stack up to those other recently unveiled franchises?

"It is going to be Mission: Impossible and Ghost Protocol—that will be the title of this film," the A-lister told reporters at a press conference today in Dubai.

"All I wanted is not to have a number," said Cruise, elaborating on the switcheroo. "I always thought we should have a title aside from Mission: Impossible."

Cameras are set to roll in Dubai, hence the presser and boosterish message from Cruise, who hailed the Middle Eastern metropolis as "very cinematic." Hmm...perhaps that's a reference to the local landmark and tallest skyscraper in the world, the Burj Khalifa, and maybe we'll see undercover dude Ethan Hunt engaging in some death-defying hijinks around there?

Filming will subsequently move to Moscow, Prague and Vancouver. Brad Bird, who won Oscars directing Pixar's The Incredibles and Ratatouille, will be making his live-action debut on M:I-4, er, Mission: Impossible—Ghost Protocol, which costarsJeremy Renner, Paula Patton,Josh Holloway and Mission vets Simon Pegg and Ving Rhames.

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